Sony has launched a rival service to video site YouTube, called eyeVio, which will initially be a Japanese only service. Speaking of the service, Sony CEO Howard Stringer said:

This is part of Sony's quiet software revolution… It's an opportunity to transmit user-generated video anywhere you want to, anytime to anybody, in a protected environment

The plan is to eventually release eyeVio across multiple territories, but Sony decided to use its home country of Japan as a test bed. Unlike YouTube, Sony is taking a hard line on piracy and copyright infringement from day one, and has stated that all content will be closely monitored on the eyeVio network.

Sony is also giving users the option to limit who can view the content and for how long it can be viewed. EyeVio will be free to use and initially will not have any advertisements, although Sony said it aims to introduce these in the future to provide revenue.

MATTHEW'S OPINION
Since YouTube is already being well established in this field, you would think Sony is in for a difficult battle to get eyeVio noticed. However, unlike Google, Sony has a wealth of content in different areas of entertainment that people want to see.

If you think about it, Sony could introduce a whole host of eyeVio-only entertainment channels to sit alongside the user-generated content. The company could have music, movies, and games and stock them all full of content it owns–no deals required with music labels, movie studios, or games companies, since it would be all its own content. Basically, eyeVio could be one large advertisement vehicle for Sony products marketed under the guise of a video-sharing site.

The Japanese are going to be very receptive to eyeVio to share their videos and will likely respond well to Sony channels as well if they are introduced. How long before it becomes a global service is anyone's guess.

USER COMMENTS 1 comment(s)

YouTube & Google(11:30am EST Mon Apr 30 2007)Already there is one lawsuit pending against YouTube, Google's purchase of YouTube did one thing, it deepened the pockets of YouTube making it a far more attractive target for legal action over copyright infringments.

Sony is starting from the point of view of trying to be different by emphasizing the person to person user video and the restrictions against copyright material. Seems like there is more room in Japan for this since Google and YouTube are a primarily US and/or English speaking environment.

It will be interesting to compare this against the Playstation network and 'Home'. Sony seems to be trying to put a lot of irons in the fire in the hope that some of them will get nice and hot. - by HIghlandCynic